I thought about naming this post “The Good and the Ugly; No Bad Here” but thought better of it. After viewing numerous ads on Facebook touting their company providing Abbott’s Libre 3 Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) as being covered by Medicare subject to some restrictions, I first tried US Med aka the ugly!
But first, a little background: I have been using the newer Libre 3 CGM for a year now, paying for it out of pocket to the tune of $154 to $192 per month. In the past, it has not been covered by Medicare because it required the user to have a smartphone on which to load the associated app to work. This past April Abbott received the OK from the FDA for their associated, stand-alone reader, so now the new package, consisting of the reader and required sender is becoming available and is covered by Medicare.
Back to US Med. Don’t go there. Despite numerous, and I mean numerous follow-ups, they just could not, or would not, get their order to my GP for fulfillment. I was promised by multiple CSRs and Order Fulfillment Reps that I would receive follow-up phone calls but never received one.
The second place I tried, Family Medical Supplies (301-479-3500) was the good and proved to be as different from USMed as the day is night. They immediately provided me with a link to their Intake Form (Link) which I filled out and followed up with a phone call to make certain it went through which it did. I then informed my GP that they would be contacting him for a script. In due course, I received a text from my GP that he had received the fax and replied. I then inquired about some particulars of the order, specifically to make certain I would be receiving the Libre 3 and NOT a Libre 2, and received a text smartly back informing me that it would be a Libre 3, what was in the shipment, when it was scheduled to ship, and when I should receive it.
Disclaimer: I do not and have not had any financial interest of any sort in the companies cited above. If interested, on Medicare, a diabetic and take insulin, check the link embedded above out.
Update: Order arrived Monday, 11/13/2023 as advertised at zero cost to me.
